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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26469160">Fighting Fire With Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneGirl346/pseuds/HamilFamBam'>HamilFamBam (ThatOneGirl346)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hamilton - Miranda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette, Alpha Hercules Mulligan, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beta John Laurens, Everyone Has Issues, Foster Care, George Washington is a Dad, Hurt Alexander Hamilton, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Martha Washington is an icon, Multi, No Sex, Non-Sexual, Omega Alexander Hamilton, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, everyone else is revealed in the story I'm not listing every single character, not graphic at all</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26469160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneGirl346/pseuds/HamilFamBam</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone was just trying to mind their own business and go about their lives, but everything seemed to change when the Washingtons decided to take in a foster child.</p>
<p>Alexander is here and ready to defy every standard and barrier that's ever tried to hold him back in life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens/Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette/Hercules Mulligan, George Washington/Martha Washington</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Meeting The Washingtons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Okay I would like to start by saying this part is t e r r i b l e but that's because set up is really hard. I promise it gets better.</p>
<p>Also hi!! If you just found me then its nice to meet you, hope you stay! If you came because you read my text fic, whats up, yes, I can write more then a text chat. Kinda</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy!! (this part is trash sorry)</p>
<p>(there's not gonna be an end note on this so I'm saying it here, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy!!)<br/>&lt;333</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>Follow me,</b>
  <span>” The social worker commanded. Alex was pretty sure he wasn’t allowed to do that, but what could he do to stop it? Without choice, Alex grabbed his backpack and followed behind the man. They arrived on the porch of the huge house, but instead of knocking the social worker looked at him. “Listen to me. If you fuck this one up, I swear to god there will be hell to pay. I’ve gone through so much fucking work for you, I’m done. The Washingtons are my last resort. I don’t give a shit if they hit you-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mr. Social Worker Dude was interrupted by the front door opening. An overly tall Alpha with dark skin and long curly hair pulled into a ponytail stood there, he looked about Alex’s age. “I was told to expect you,” He said, Alex immediately noticed his French accent. “I was not told to expect you to be harassing him. Come inside.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The alpha sounded cold, annoyed even. Alex hoped it wasn’t because of him. “Who are you?” His social worker asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <span>Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette. I’m in the Washingtons file, I’m staying here to get my education at Kings. Martha will be inside in a moment, would you like to wait in the sitting room?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His social worker and he followed. This social worker was walking with an air of confidence, whereas Alex was following behind like a blind sheep. The sitting room was only a few steps from the front door, but it was more massive than the entryway. It was filled with a lot of comfortable looking chairs and sofas, and all the walls were covered in floor to ceiling with bookcases. The two Alphas sat down, but Alex wasn’t sure if he was supposed to sit or not.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Apparently, he was because his social worker commanded “</span>
  <b>Sit</b>
  <span>” so he ended up on the couch next to the other boy, who scoffed. Alex assumed that it was because he had sat next to him, but he wasn’t able to move due to the command. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex was wrong, because the boy, whose name was probably Gilbert from what he knew about French people, snapped at his social worker. “Don’t do that.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I can do whatever I damn well please,” His social worker growled. That wasn’t the first time Alex had heard an Alpha growl, but every time he heard it, it scared the fuck out of him. Gilbert seemed to notice that fear.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I guess you could if you plan on not keeping your job,” Gilbert told him calmly. “We have security cameras outside that record the command earlier, and I bet the ones in the entryway picked that up. From that alone, there’s enough to not only end your career but file a lawsuit. So now that you know that, I suggest you shut up.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His social worker looked absolutely pissed. “Listen here you little runt I can do whatever the fuck I want and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. You’re a pathetic little waste of an Alph-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That is enough!” A new Alpha yelled. Alex flinched so hard that he fell off the couch. “You don’t speak to people like that. Not an Alpha, not a Beta, and definitely not an Omega. Don’t do it. Ever.” The alpha, a woman who just gave off the air of Alpha without people even needing to smell her scent. Her scent was nice though, it was a strong rose smell. It reminded Alex of his mother.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Luckily, his social worker shut up. Unluckily, his scent was starting to elevate, alerting the three Alphas in the room that he was in distress. “Gilbert honey, will you take him into the living room while I talk to his social worker?” The lady said, obviously trying not to call him out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Course Martha,” Gilbert said, nodding. He got up and started walking, looking behind a couple of times to make sure Alexander was following. Once they got into a room that Alex assumed was the living room, Gilbert stopped and looked at him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you okay?” He asked calmly. Alex didn’t know why, but he kind of trusted the Alpha. His brain was telling him to not trust him and run, but there was a small part of him that was calmed down by the Alphas presence in general. Maybe it was because he had stood up for Alex, maybe it was his scent, which was peppermint and James used to steal peppermints for him when he was upset. Whatever it was, Alex trusted him a little bit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That didn’t stop him from lying through his teeth. “I’m fine,” He told Gilbert.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Gilbert sighed at that. “I know that that’s not the truth,” Gilbert told him. That proceeded to freak Alexander out more. He had been caught, and he was normally a really good liar too. Breathing started to get harder and harder because of that. What if the Alpha was mad? What if they kicked him out already? What if-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His panic was cut off by the Alpha crouching down in front of him. “Alexander, calm down. I’m not mad or anything. Come on, breathe with me okay. In four, hold six, out four. See, you got it!” Gilbert was breathing with him, trying to get his breathing to calm down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a minute of breathing and Gilbert’s reassurance, he had finally calmed down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You did so good!” Gilbert told him. Alexander’s brain was practically beaming from the praise. Internally, he knew getting his happy over knowing how to breathe was dumb, but his stupid Omega brain was happy about the praise.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex was confused though. Every time he’d had a panic attack he’d either been ignored, or commanded to breathe, then ignored.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why- Why did you-” Alex tried to get out the question, but he ended up just a blushing mess. Stupid Omega hormones.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Apparently, the Alpha knew what he was going to ask. “Why didn’t I command you to breath?” He asked. Alex just nodded. “It might have gotten you to breathe quicker, but it wouldn’t have calmed you down even a little.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex was confused. This house was already weird. After so many different foster homes Alex had learned how to figure out what type of house it would be. He could normally figure them within twenty minutes, these people were harder. Either they were actually nice, which Alex doubted, or they were very good at hiding. It was probably that one.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them just awkwardly sat there for a minute, not knowing what to do. Eventually, Gilbert sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote, asking Alex if he wanted to watch TV.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex just shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” He asked, setting the remote down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Yet again, Alex shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t properly introduce myself did I?” Gilbert asked. “You heard my names early, but most of my friends call me Lafayette or just Laf. Whatever you’re most comfortable. I haven’t been told your name though. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, it's completely up to you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>This confused Alex even more than he already was. Gil-Lafayette was trying to be nice? He was overdoing it a little bit, but he was still making an effort, which Alex appreciated, but was confused by. He didn’t want to be rude though, so he made himself give a small, “Alexander.” As an afterthought, he added “Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s nice to meet you, Alexander!” Lafayette said overly happily. “I stay with the Washingtons most of the year. My parents are both ambassadors and they wanted me to get a better education, and Kings is one of the best, so the Washingtons took me in. They’re good people.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex just nodded. He hesitantly let himself sit on the opposite end of the couch as Lafayette. He was ready to get up at any moment, not sure if he was allowed on the furniture or not. The rule might seem ridiculous, but he had been in multiple foster homes where he got in trouble for sitting without permission.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Lafayette didn’t say anything though, just kept trying to make small talk. “What do you do for fun?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex shrugged, not knowing what to say. Yeah, he liked writing, a lot, but he didn’t get to do it much. Fun was off the table for him, had been ever since he presented.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay. Um, what do you want to do?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex shrugged yet again. He wanted to ask about Kings High School, but he figured that he wasn’t going to go there. It was one of the best high schools in the U.S. but there wasn’t a single Omega going there. It was a private school, so the inclusion laws didn’t apply to them. The Washingtons were probably going to make him go to either the public high school or some Omega finishing school. He wasn’t looking forward to either. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They spent a solid twenty minutes in awkward silence before the woman from before came in. Alex tensed automatically. “Hey Alexander, Mr. Webber is about to leave, do you want to say bye? I get if you don’t, he was really rude,” She said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex shrugged. It was the only thing he could do. He wasn’t sure what this family expected of him yet.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s okay, I’m gonna go see him out then can we have a talk?” She asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex nodded and kept his head low. Lafayette seemed nice, but who knew how she would react.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex could hear her walking his social worker out, and he measured her footsteps while she walked back. They didn’t seem angry. “Alexander, can we have that talk now?” He nodded so she sat down next to him, still keeping enough distance to where he didn’t feel trapped.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Gilbert shoo, go get a room ready please,” She asked, mainly to get him out of the room before turning her attention back on Alex. “So kiddo, we got to work out some things. I should tell you the truth, we didn’t know you were an Omega when we agreed to foster you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That made Alex start to panic. They didn’t want an Omega, they didn’t want him, but they were keeping him? They were probably just keeping him so that he could do Omega stuff. Like chores and other less friendly things. He really hoped they didn’t do the other things. The other things-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Calm down please Alexander,” She said in a calm voice. She, like Lafayette, didn’t command him to calm down, which helped. “We don’t care that you’re an Omega, we just didn’t know. In reality, you probably shouldn’t have been placed with us. Let me introduce myself first though. I’m Martha, and if you couldn’t tell I’m an Alpha. My husband George, who’s at work right now, is also an Alpha. And from what I know about child services Omegas aren’t normally placed in houses with more than three Alphas.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex wasn’t sure if that was true. He wished it was true, but he had been in houses filled to the brim with Alphas. Those were never fun.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey,” She said calmly, reaching out to brush his cheek. The sudden closeness caused him to flinch back, and Martha to retract her hand. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna be treated the same as you would if you were a Beta or an Alpha. We just gotta change some things. Tomorrow we planned on going shopping, so while we’re out we can get scent diffusers for your door along with anything else that you need or even just want. Will that work?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex nodded. Why were they so nice? It was unfair, he didn’t deserve them to be this nice. This could be just a front though, they could be waiting for him to be comfortable to strike.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Martha smiled at him. “I think that’s enough for now, I don’t want to overwhelm you, plus I should start dinner. Gilbert can show you around, or you can hole up in your room, whatever you like. Between you and me, he’s been excited about you coming since we told him. I think he’s getting bored of always being around me and George. According to him, we’re old. If he gets to be too much tell me and I’ll get him to back down.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She got up and walked back to the hallway, turning back at him before she left. “Gilbert is probably just got down from the attic if that bang was a clue. Just walk up the stairs and he will probably have some options for your room. I’ll just be in the kitchen if you need me.” With that, she left Alex alone and confused.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It took him a minute, but he eventually grabbed his tattered backpack and made his way up the grand staircase. As soon as he reached the stop he met Lafayette sitting on the ground surrounded by five different comforters and six different types of sheets, obviously trying to figure out what went with which.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as he heard Alex’s footsteps he smiled at him. “Okay, so I brought down all of the bedding that is like, made for Omegas and stuff. If you don’t like any of it we can find something else or Martha and George can get you something new tomorrow, but what do you like best?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex just kind of stared at all of the different options. They all smelled like they had been cleaned recently even though Alex was pretty sure that no other Omega lived here. He didn’t question it though.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Since Alex didn’t say anything, Lafayette continued. “We have two spare rooms with a bathroom attached so you can choose from those, and they both just have black wood in them so whatever you choose will work.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Lafayette kept going on about wood tones and how the different colors would blend together. Alexander couldn’t help but stare at him. His instincts were telling him to trust the Alpha. They hadn’t even told him to trust his own father, who granted was not a good person, or Peter, who was nothing but nice to him. The only Alpha his instincts had ever trusted was James, and now this Alpha. Alex didn’t know why it was happening, but he decided to trust it, his instincts had never been wrong about anything before. He was still going to be cautious, but he was going to trust himself a little bit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh! Feel this!” Lafayette said, holding out a gray blanket that was still in packaging. According to the label, it was big enough to fit on a twin-sized bed. As he felt it his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. It felt like heaven.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So you like it? It’s yours!” Lafayette told him, handing him the blanket so he could take it out of the packaging. “I have one like it in a different color. Also just so you know, I know that blanket and stuff like that sometimes make Omega’s happy, and help them calm down and stuff. I don’t know if that applies to you, but if it does I feel like you should know that George and Martha don’t care if you drag blankets around. I do it a lot when it starts to get cold, which it will soon anyways.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alexander gave him a small, rare smile. “Thanks,” he mumbled, feeling the blanket. He wasn’t planning on trusting that any time soon, but it was the thought that counted.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They spent at least five minutes just sitting on the floor picking out his bedding. He ended up with a gray comforter and white sheets. They all felt way softer than any blanket he had been given at a foster home. It reminded him of the bed he and James shared back home.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Thinking of James made him sad, and apparently, it was noticeable in his scent because Lafayette looked straight at him and ask if he was okay.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex immediately lied and told him he was fine, but his instincts were screaming at him to tell the truth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex picked out his room, which was as far away from Mr. and Mrs. Washington’s room as possible, but across the hall from Lafayette’s room. He watched as the Alpha made his bed for him, noticing every single awkward movement that he made so that he didn’t accidentally scent the sheets. This family was weird.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You can do whatever you want. If you want though I can give you a tour. It’s up to you,” Lafayette told him, looking a little hopeful.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That would be nice,” Alexander told him, seeing him light up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Lafayette led him around, looking more and more like an excited puppy with each room. Alexander was absolutely astonished. The house just kept getting bigger and bigger. They had more bathrooms than a house should have, and they still hadn't toured the first floor or the basement Lafayette told him about.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The longer they walked through the house the more comfortable Alex got with the Alpha. He seemed okay, he didn’t have the air of confidence that all the Alphas Alex had ever known had. He was nice, something that Alexander hadn’t got much of recently. Alexander still had his guard up, but he let it slip a little. You never know what could be if you didn’t let it happen, and if it backfired it wasn’t like anything worse could happen then what had already happened.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They had finally gone through the entire upstairs when Mrs. Washington told Lafayette to set the table.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you wanna come? I’ll show you both the dining rooms!” Lafayette asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alexander gave a small sure, while also wondering why the fuck they needed two dining rooms. Why were rich people like this?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Apparently, they had a formal dining room that seated around sixteen people for when they hosted diner parties and an informal dining room for regular meals. Alex thought they were both ridiculously fancy, and they had no right to be as big as they were. They were apparently eating in the informal dining room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alexander just stood awkwardly by the door while Lafayette set the table, not knowing what to do. In almost every other house he had been in they had him doing the “Omega jobs” by the first night, but Lafayette hadn’t even asked him to help. The Alpha was perfectly fine doing it himself. He’s said it before and he’ll say it again, this family was weird.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Just as he was starting to feel comfortable the front door opened. Without thinking his body tensed up. Lafayette told him that it was just Mr. Washington getting home, which didn’t help one bit. He could hear the man saying hello to his wife before walking to the dining room they were in.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex’s heartbeat was already starting to get faster and faster with each step the man took. What if he was mad that Alex was an Omega. What if he got mad that Alex was sitting while Lafayette set the table. What if-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Alexander? What’s wrong?” Lafayette asked, pulling him out of his thoughts enough for him to be able to smell himself and the distress signals he was letting off.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Alex answered quickly, trying and failing to calm his scent.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you are not fine, but I won’t pressure you into talking,” The Alpha told him. That seemed to calm Alex’s down a little. “But Alexander, if this is because George is home, I assure you he will not cause you any harm, emotionally or physically. He is a good man,” Lafayette added. That seemed to calm Alex enough so that the distress in his scent was undetectable if you didn’t already know it was there. Alexander did not believe it, but his body trusted Lafayette enough for him to calm down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex hated that he trusted Lafayette. He had learned long ago to never trust anyone, never grow close to anyone. They all end up leaving or hurting you. He couldn’t stop himself from trusting Lafayette though. His brain wouldn’t let him, there was just something about the boy that made Alex’s entire body scream “safe”.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You must be Alexander,” A voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts yet again. He turned around in his chair to find the very Alpha he’d been dreading to meet right there. Lafayette was still in the room though, which was one of the only things stopping his scent from going haywire. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m George Washington.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mr. Washington held out his hand for Alex to shake, which he did with only slight hesitation. Surprisingly, the Alpha didn’t try to mark or scent him during the handshake, which was different.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mr. Washington smiled down at him. “Strong grip,” He commented. Alex wasn’t sure if he was uncomfortable or proud of himself. He had learned early on that confidence could be either good or bad, but it was always better than showing submission. That never turned out good.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He wasn’t going to think about that though, they would literally be able to smell his fear and that was not ideal, so he kept his straight back posture, trying to make his small body seem as big as possible. George didn’t seem mad or even amused at the thought of, as one of his old foster fathers called him “A tiny Omega pretending he’s a big bad Alpha.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before anything more could happen Martha came in from a door Alex hadn’t even noticed which apparently connected to the kitchen. “Dinners ready, come get some. Oh and Alex, we weren’t told if you had any food preferences or allergies so I tried to make something neutral. It’s just chicken alfredo with optional chicken, in case you’re vegetarian or vegan. I hope its fine,” She told them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine, thank you,” He said, following Lafayette and Mr. Washington to the kitchen. They both served themselves bowls of the chicken alfredo and poured themselves a drink before going back to the dining room. Alex and Martha were in a sort of a standstill, Alex not quite knowing that they wanted him to do and Martha obviously waiting for him to do something.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You can dish up your own food, kiddo,” She told him gently, gesturing to the empty bowls. It was weird, normally the amount of food he got was monitored, so in case this was some kind of fucked up test he only filled his bowl up around halfway. It wasn’t like he needed more than that anyway. “Is that all?” She asked, watching his every move, which was starting to make him uncomfortable.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not that hungry, thank you though,” He said as politely as he could muster, before trying to leave the room as quickly as possible. An Alpha paying extra attention to you was never a good thing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He sat next to Lafayette, noting that no one was sitting in the head of the table. Once Martha joined them they all started eating, Mr. and Ms. Washington using manners, Lafayette shoveling it in his face and Alex slowly picking his way through it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So Alex, tell us about yourself,” Martha said in an attempt to keep a conversation going.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Like what?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Anything really, your hobbies, what you do for fun, just a random fun fact or something, its up to what you want to share,” She told him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Immediately Alex had forgotten every single moment of his life and had no idea what to tell her, but after a moment of silence, it all started to come back to him. “I really like reading and writing,” He told her apprehensively. What if she was expecting a more “Omega centered” hobby?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She gave him a big smile and asked what his favorite genre was.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I honestly couldn’t pick one,” He told her, starting to relax into the conversation. “I like them all, but recently I’ve started to get more into philosophy.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, how fun! We have an entire section in the library dedicated to philosophy that has just been sitting there for a while, maybe you could crack ‘em open and give them a good read. You’re welcome to the entire library, in case no one had told you yet.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex gave her an awkward smile, not completely trusting her. The conversation turned to what he assumed was their normal dinner time conversations and he was left to pick at his food in peace. Everyone shared stories about their days which without context didn’t make much sense.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Just when he thought he had made it through dinner, George said, “So Alex, since we have to get you registered for school within the next few days, we have a couple of options for you. We weren’t quite sure if you had a preference.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex nodded, prompting him to continue and getting ready for them to tell him each mediocre at best options he had for schooling. Society didn’t care much for Omegas, let alone their education.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So our first thought was Kings Prep. but we weren’t sure if that was your like, thing? If that makes sense,” George said, which made Alexander perk up. He was expecting either a finishing school or the local public school, not the best high school in the country. “If you prefer, the local high school actually isn’t that bad, or you could do online schooling if that would make you more comfortable.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Even though Kings was his dream, he just shrugged. He didn’t want to overstep his boundaries or him tell them and be excited just for them to be joking or something. They didn’t even bring up finishing school though,</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It seemed less and less like a joke as Lafayette started telling him all about Kings, from the teachers he liked and disliked to his friends that also all apparently went there. It sounded like a dream.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Lafayette went on like that for at least five minutes before Martha cut him off, “Gilbert calm down, its Alex’s choice, don’t pressure him.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“My apologies, Alexander,” Lafayette said, looking genuinely apologetic.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” Alex said, still picking at his food. “Isn’t Kings Prep. expensive though?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>George let out a small laugh, “We can afford it, don’t worry about the cost, plus there are scholarships I’m sure you can qualify for if you really do care about the price. So you’re interested in Kings?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, it is one of the best high schools in literally the entire world, who wouldn’t be interested?” Alex said, which got a small laugh out of George. “But would I even be allowed in? Do they allow Omegas to enroll?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Actually,” Martha cut in, “While I was making dinner I read their entire handbook and nothing says that Omegas aren’t allowed, you would just be the first.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I think about it?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, just don’t take to long since we have to get you enrolled soon,” Martha told him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex gave her a small nod and refocused his attention to his food.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Lafayette’s phone went off and even after receiving a small scolding for having his phone at the table he checked it and immediately gave Martha and George puppy eyes. “Hey, Martha?” He said, dragging out the A’s in her name.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” She asked him while George tried to hide his laughter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can Hercules and John please come shopping with us tomorrow?” He asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Martha rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention to Alex, “Is that okay with you?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah I don’t mind,” He told her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell them they can but I want to get to the mall by like, ten so they have to wake up early,” She said to Lafayette.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you so much! We’ll be on our best behavior I promise,” He said, aggressively typing to tell them what was happening.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“May I be excused?” Alex asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, just put your dishes in the sink please,” George said, also standing up to take his bowl to the kitchen.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex followed him apprehensively. Normally he did his best not to be alone in a room with an alpha, especially an adult male alpha, but it was kind of unavoidable in this placement. At least Lafayette and Martha were on the other side of the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>George grabbed his bowl from him and rinsed it out. Alex took that as his cue to leave as quickly as possible, but George called him back to the sink. Alex tensed as he walked back to the Alpha, but did it none the less.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t tell Martha or Lafayette okay?” He whispered, which sounded worse then it should have. This was when everything went bad. Alex braced himself for the hit or the touch but it never came. George just climbed onto the counter and grabbed a container of those store-bought cookies from the top of a cupboard. They had yellow frosting and rainbow sprinkles and they literally looked like heaven itself. George grabbed himself a cookie and held out the container to Alex. “I went shopping last and never told them about these, if I had they would have been gone that day. Our secret okay?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alex smiled and took a cookie, that was the first time he’d heard those words in a friendly manner. He told him thank you before he climbed back onto the counter to put the cookies back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh! Did Gilbert show you to the library?” He asked, receiving a shake of the head from Alex. “If you want I could show you,” He offered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I think that I’m just gonna go to bed if that time. I’m kind of tired.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh of course, sorry that I kept you from your sleep, goodnight.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Alexander mumbled a soft goodnight as he left the kitchen and tried to retrace his previous steps back to his bedroom. He only got lost like, twice so he counted it as a win. His room was void of any scent, which was nice compared to the aggressive Alpha smell the rest of the house had.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The day hadn’t gone as bad as it could have, so that was a plus. They seemed like good people, plus they talked about letting him go to Kings, which was his literal dream ever since the island. Maybe for once, the life of an orphan immigrant was looking up.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Shop Till You Drop</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey whats up sorry its been so long, but I hope the length will make up for it. I'll explain my updating schedule more at the end.</p><p>I hope you like it! Alex gets to meet John and Hercules, plus two special guests!!</p><p>I struggled a bit writing this chapter because I wasn't sure if I should go for short and sweet or long and detailed, so it's a bit scattered and honestly not my best work, but I really wanted to get this chapter out to you and I don't have the time right now because of school to rewrite it, so I'm sorry that it's not great. I didn't really know how to end it too, so the ending is kind of cheesy, sorry.</p><p>I hope you enjoy it anyway! Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Alex was awake before the sun had risen over the trees. He had to agree with Laf, being able to cocoon into a blanket made sleeping in a new place a lot better. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to be up this early, so he took the time to explore his room. There was the basic, a bed in the middle of the room, a dresser off to the side, but they were all way to fancy for their own good. What stood out was the wall that was covered in two bookshelves, a desk in between them. They didn’t have a lot of books on them, but they didn’t look empty either. The drawers were all cleared out, with the exception of a random pencil and sticky note pad left behind. He progressed into the bathroom, which was completely empty except for two towels that were hanging up and some soap by the sink. Everything just screamed “guest room.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Since he had seen everything there was to see he grabbed his back, which he had stashed under his bed just in case, and pulled out a shirt he had only worn once since it was last clean and his jeans from yesterday. He didn’t have much of anything, just two pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts that he rotated when he had the chance. The only memento he had left from his childhood was a photo of him, his mom, and James, taken when Alex was only five. It was taken before they got sick, before Peter killed himself, before James had to leave, and before the hurricane. The only reason it survived the water damage was that his mom had it in a special frame, which took most of the damage. He kept it safe, tucked at the bottom of his bag where no one could see it, especially him. As much as he loved them, it still hurt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After he changed he crept out of his room, walking carefully to make sure he didn’t wake anyone up and made his way downstairs. Once he was in the clear, he took his time to explore each room. Most of the rooms were uninteresting but there were two that piqued his interest. The first being the library which was huge and filled to the brim with books that he wanted to explore more later. The other being an entire music room. In one corner there was a grand piano with a harp next to it. There was a comfortable yet fancy looking couch on one wall, and all the classical string instruments hanging on the wall in size order. Scattered around the room were even more instruments and an entire bookshelf of music, all labeled for the different instruments. This room probably cost more money then someone could make cutting his body into pieces and selling it on the black market.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Against his better judgment, he took a seat at the piano. He hadn’t played since he was a kid. The bedrooms were on a different floor on the other side of the house, so he assumed the sound wouldn't travel that far as he pushed down a few keys. After a couple of minutes, he was fully engrossed in it, making a few mistakes here and there due to the gap in time where he hadn't been able to play. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was so absorbed by it that he didn't notice the person standing in the doorway, waiting for him to finish.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He finished the piece he had memorized and after a few beats of silence, he heard a quiet "You're really good at that," From the doorway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He whipped around only to be face to face with George, who was still I'm pajamas. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I shouldn't even be in here. I'm so sorry please don't be mad. I won't do it again I promise-" he rambled, only to be cut off</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alexander, calm down, you're fine. I was already up. Anyway, none of us know piano, it might as well get some use," George told him, sounding genuine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just gave him an awkward smile and they stayed like that for a while, neither knowing the next move to make.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally, George broke the silence. "I was going to make breakfast, are you hungry?" He asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just shrugged. At this point, he was indifferent to hunger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How about to start we see if there's something you'd want."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex said okay and followed him to the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a ten minute standoff where they decided if they should have eggs and toast or pancakes, Alex finally got his way and George started making pancakes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time the pancakes were done Alex had ended up on one of the counters, finishing a long-winded explanation of a book he read once while George listened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That actually sounds really interesting," George told him with a smile. "If you guys end up at a bookstore today look to see if they have it, I'd love to read it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Really?" Alex asked. No one had ever really taken in what he said, let alone done something he recommended.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"'Course. Would you be willing to knock on Gilbert's door and tell him breakfast is ready while I get Martha?" George asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nodded and slid off the counter, making his way upstairs. He remembered the way this time and knocked on the door across from his, which earned him a loud groan from the other side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" He yelled, sounding half asleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Washington said to tell you breakfast is ready,” He called through the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He heard yet another groan and a thump on the floor. Did he fall out of bed? He opened the door in just a pair of basketball shorts and they both just stood there a minute, Laf not knowing why they were standing there still and Alex frozen, face to face with his extremely muscled chest. Did he spend his entire fucking life just working out? Who just casually has abs? After a second Lafayette said, “Oh, shirt, sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex didn’t reply, just stood there awkwardly while Lafayette grabbed a shirt and slipped it over his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did George make?” Laf asked, finally snapping Alex out of his awkwardness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pancakes,” Alex said, turning around to walk back to the kitchen while Laf followed him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Breakfast was what any normal family would expect. Alex managed to eat a whole pancake, which he was immensely proud of himself for. Martha tried to get him to eat another pancake, but he started to feel sick after a couple of bites and had to stop. George told a story about a dream he had where he and Martha spent days looking for a grilled cheese sandwich but turns out Lafayette had eaten it and didn’t tell them because he was hungry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once everyone was done Martha said that they were leaving soon, so the three of them went to get ready, leaving the sink full of dishes which Alex assumed was for him to clean. He didn’t know if he was allowed to use the dishwasher or not, and even if he was the dishwasher was fancy and he had no idea what almost all of the buttons meant, so he hand-washed them all. He finished drying the last plate right as Martha walked in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh Alex honey I was gonna do those,” She said, walking up to join him at the sink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay ma’am, it wasn’t that much,” He told her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She just gave him a sad smile and put the plates away. He wasn’t able to reach their spot in the cupboard without climbing onto the counter, and he didn’t want to risk getting in trouble for it. “I appreciate the help, but please don’t feel like you have to do them. The only real chore you would have is just to pick up after yourself. Just try not to leave a bunch of stuff everywhere and you’re fine. The only time we ever really care is when Gilbert leaves like seven million cups everywhere.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From the other side of the door, they heard Gilbert yell “Rude!” Which made Martha laugh as she walked back out to put shoes on. Alex did the same, just he went back up to his room where he had left his shoes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In what felt like no time the four of them were in a car, driving to one of Lafayette's friend’s houses. They went to get whoever John was because he was closest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As expected, his house was way bigger than a house needed to be. Lafayette sent a text and climbed back to the third row, explaining that it’d be easier for him and John to sit in the back because they’re smaller than Hercules. Lafayette was already huge, how could someone else their age already be bigger. Alex was getting anxious just at the thought of Hercules when the door opened and a boy, presumably John, came in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked a couple of inches taller than Alex and had curly hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He gave a small smile as he squeezed his way to the back row with Lafayette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sup fucker,” John said to Lafayette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette snorted and called him a loser. “Oh yeah, this is Alex.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey I’m John,” He said, leaning forward a little when he said it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” Alex said, giving him a small smile when he looked back, but quickly went back to looking out the window. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ride to Hercules’ house was mainly silent. Martha and George had a conversation about something no one else was paying attention to, Alex stared out the window, and John and Lafayette both played on their phones. After a few minutes, they pulled up in front of an upper-middle-class home. Not as over the top as John or the Washingtons, but still very fancy and bigger than anything Alex could even imagine being able to afford.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The door opened again, but this time a muscular Alpha who was probably the same height as Lafayette climbed in. He gave Lafayette and John an awkward peace sign before he got in his seat and buckled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m Hercules,” He said, reaching his hand over for Alex to shake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex took it, trying to appear more confident than he actually was. “Nice to met you, I’m Alex.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two spent the rest of the ride to the mall talking casually. After awhile John and Lafayette joined in. The conversation was comfortable and didn’t get awkward. No one talked down to Alex the entire time either, which was still a fairly new concept.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Actually getting into the mall was a struggle, to say the least. They were almost inside when Martha realized she forgot her purse so they had to go back for that. Then Lafayette realized he forgot his phone, so Mr. and Ms. Washington had to herd everyone back to the car just to get Lafayette’s phone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally getting into the mall was a different story though. Martha was on a mission to get everything they needed and was not afraid to smack someone for wandering off. Their first stop was the Apple Store.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment they stepped in Martha went straight towards the phones and everyone except Alex started looking around. “What do you think of this one?” She asked, picking up and iPhone 11 from its stand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Alexander asked. Why would they buy a foster kid who they definitely weren’t going to keep around long and iPhone 11?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Martha just let out a small laugh. “I mean is this fine? Do you want something different?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just kind of stared at her. Why was he getting a choice in an eight hundred dollar phone?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just gonna assume its fine, but if you have a problem with it or just want something different don’t be afraid to tell me,” She told him. He was definitely afraid to tell her he wanted something less nice. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful but he also had never even held something that expensive before. “Let’s get you a laptop,” She said, walking over to the laptops while Alex followed like a lost puppy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After finding a laptop she seemed to like she asked if he wanted a different one again, and again Alex didn’t know how to respond. She did the same with an iPad, which Alexander was positive he didn’t actually need, but he didn’t know how to say no without sounding rude. He picked out a phone case while she got ready to pay, choosing a plain black one because it was the cheapest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once everyone was wrangled back into the group Martha lead them to a clothing store, where Lafayette and Hercules helped him pick out so many clothes, all of which they made him try on and give them a mini fashion show. Overall, one of the most awkward moments of his life. He did have to admit that they were pretty good at picking out clothing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had to have spent hours there because by the time they were done George Martha and John both had armfuls of bags, Lafayette having declared that since they didn’t help pick out clothes they had to carry the bags. Martha just sighed and started walking to a restaurant because apparently rich people were too good for food courts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It worked out though because the four of them got to eat their weight in breadsticks. For the first fifteen minutes they were seated it was almost completely silent, save for the sounds of them shoving breadsticks down their throats. Martha and George just watched them in amusement. By the time Martha revoked their breadstick privileges Lafayette, John and Hercules had eaten an entire basket each, whereas Alex had three before he started to feel sick. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you eat anymore you’ll be too full to eat your lunch,” She scolded, taking the basket the waitress just put down from them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette stuck his tongue out at her but otherwise didn’t protest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Alex, where are you from?” John asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh um, Nevis. It’s an island in the Caribbean,” He admitted. He wasn’t ashamed of where he was from, he just knew that the world didn’t take kindly to immigrants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette and Hercules immediately made eye contact, then looked at Alex, then back at each other. The more time that passed in silence the more anxious Alex got. Eventually, they both looked at him and stared straight into his soul.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to join our club?” Hercules finally asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just gave them a confused look while John groaned, obviously annoyed. “What do you mean? Alex finally asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We-” Laf started but was quickly cut off by John.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ignore them, they’re dumb and one day decided they needed to unite together because they’re both immigrants and they hangout once a month and complain about Trump and all the anti-immigration stuff and they don’t invite me because I was born I’m from South Carolina even though I am more than willing to complain and it’s rude,” John told him, playfully glaring at his two friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess,” Alex said, keeping his focus on his lap where he was picking at his fingernails. He didn’t particularly like the idea of being alone with two very large Alpha’s, but he also didn’t want to seem rude.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t mean to sound pressury,” Hercules told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Don’t fret, mon ami, we aren’t going to force you,” Lafayette told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just gave a small smile, not quite knowing how to respond.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The table just kind of settled into awkward silence while Martha and George shoved their faces with breadsticks. John ended up breaking the silence by asking, “What school are you going to?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know yet,” He admitted. He was set on trying to go to Kings, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up this quickly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you think he should go to Kings? He would already have friends and everything!” Lafayette pointed out. “We could even show him around and introduce him to our friends and he would have even more friends and he wouldn’t have to go through the awkwardness of being the new kid.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gilbert, shush,” George said. “If Alex wants to go to Kings that’s his choice, stop pressuring him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette let out an overdramatic groan and dramatically draped himself over Hercules who he was sitting next to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hercules rolled his eyes at him and focused his attention on Alex. “Lafayette’s meddling aside, do you want to go to Kings?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess,” Alex lied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s when Martha started paying attention to them. “Alex honey, be honest with me please, do you actually want to go to Kings or not? We aren’t going to be mad either way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex was stuck in what felt like a life or death conflict with himself. He wanted to go to Kings but he also wanted to stay alive. What if they didn’t want him to go to Kings? What if this was all just part of their rouse? What if they hurt him?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His brain started screaming at him more and more until eventually, he excused himself to go to the bathroom and speed walked to the Omega and Beta women’s bathroom. Luckily it was empty, so he was undisturbed as he walked into a stall and slid down the wall, shaking. He didn’t want this to go bad. He shouldn’t have left. They’re probably mad at him now. What’re they going to do to him? He’s a bad person. He’s useless and worthless and-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His constant stream of thoughts was interrupted by someone knocking on the stall door. He hadn’t heard the door open through his thoughts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” He asked, trying to make himself sound okay and failing miserably.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay?” The person asked. She sounded decently young, probably around his age.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” He lied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds fake, will you open the door, please? Maybe we can help,” Girl said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can see you’re sitting on the floor so we know you’re clothed. Please open the door,” The first girl said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Peggy shut up don’t be so pushy,” Girl two said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” The first girl, Peggy, said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a minute Alex worked up the courage to unlock the stall. A girl with long straight hair and a blue dress stepped into the stall first, crouching down in front of Alex while a girl with a yellow sweatshirt and curly brown hair stood anxiously in the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” The second girl, who was the one crouched down in front of him asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- I just- I can’t- They-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey hey hey its okay, you just gotta calm down okay,” The girl told him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I hug you?” The first girl asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex gave a tentative nod. He couldn’t remember the last time he had physical contact that wasn’t meant to hurt him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sat down and pulled Alex into a side hug, mumbling reassurance into his ear and trying to get him to stop shaking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once his shaking had finally calmed down he put his head on her shoulder, taking in the comfort and praise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You did so good!” She said. “Can you tell us your name?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alexander,” He whispered, not taking his eyes off the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s nice to meet you, Alexander, I’m Eliza, and that’s my sister Peggy,” The second girl said, who had been mainly watching the entire time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” He mumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” Peggy laughed a little. Now that he was calm he noticed their scents. Eliza was a Beta and Peggy was an Omega, and from the way, her scent was developed she just recently presented. “Will you tell us what happened?” Peggy asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I messed up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I doubt you could have messed up that bad,” Eliza said. “What happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I got scared and I ran away,” He admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay to get scared, Alexander,” Eliza told him while Peggy started petting his hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shook his head aggressively. “No its not they’re gonna be mad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alexander,” Peggy started. “Are you in danger?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just shrugged. Technically he didn’t know if he was in danger or not yet. They could be perfectly nice people and he was just overreacting. Granted that had never been the case in the past.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who did you run away from?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Foster parents,” Alex told them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peggy and Eliza gave each other a look that Alex didn’t see. “Do they hurt you?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just shrugged. They haven’t yet but they could. He doesn’t trust them, anyone for that fact.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What does a shrug mean?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They haven’t yet. Never know though.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three of them just sat in silence for what felt like hours, but couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. “Alexander?” Martha called through the door. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The breath caught in Alex’s throat and he couldn’t answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that Martha?” Peggy asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that sounds like Martha. Alex, is your foster family the Washingtons?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nodded, trying to get his voice back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever happened that made you so scared I promise you don’t need to be scared. I’ve known them my entire life, they’re nice,” Eliza said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can walk you out okay? If you want we can go check on you soon, the Washingtons are good friends with our parents,” Peggy told him, still petting his hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Alex whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eliza got up first and held out a hand to both Peggy and Alex, who after a moment of peace finally got up. Peggy linked arms with him as they all got out of the stall. “You got this,” She told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nodded and they walked to the door together. Eliza pushed it open, revealing a concerned-looking Ms. Washington.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh thank god you’re okay, I thought I was going to have to ask someone to check on you,” She said, looking his she was going to go in for a hug but quickly stopping herself. “Oh hello girls,” She said, noticing them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi, Martha!” Peggy said, giving Alex a quick hug.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We just ran into Alexander in the bathroom and ended up talking for a while,” Eliza told her. “We should probably get back though, we left Angelica all alone at the table.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” Martha told them before the walked back over to their table. Once they were gone she refocused her attention on Alex. “Are you okay?” She asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I’m sorry,” He lied, keeping his eyes trained on the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please be honest with me. What happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I got scared,” He admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of what honey?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You,” He mumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re scared of me?” She asked, sitting on a bench that for some reason was outside the bathrooms</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex just shrugged, not really wanting to tell her the truth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you scared of me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You seem nice,” He admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re scared of me because I seem nice?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you scared I’m gonna hurt you?” Martha asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex I swear if I ever lay a hand on you that isn’t something loving I will cut off my own hand. I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. I think the only ever hurt Lafayette was when I accidentally hammered his hand and even then I still feel bad about that. George is the same way. Neither of us would even think about hurting you,” She said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex didn’t fully believe her but said okay anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now will you please tell me why you got so scared after I asked if you wanted to go to Kings?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t sure if it was a trick,” He admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not a trick kiddo. If you want to go to Kings we’d love for you to go to Kings, but we wouldn’t force you if you didn’t want to,” Martha told him. “So tell me, do you want to go to Kings?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I really do,” Alex told her, finally meeting her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay we’ll get you registered tonight then,” Martha told him with a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Course, we should probably go back to the table though, the food arrived a bit ago and we don’t want it to get cold.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked back to the table together and were met with some concerned looks that they both ignored. Martha started whispering things to George which Alex completely ignored. He was going to his dream school! He was absolutely ecstatic!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay, mon ami?” Lafayette asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Alex told him, starting to dig into his food. The three other teenagers gave him confused looks which he pretty much ignored. He was going to Kings!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Alexander, what’s your favorite animal?” Hercules asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette and John both snorted in sync with each other and gave Hercules a weird look. “That’s really the question you ask? Out of all the conversation started you ask whats his favorite animal is?” John said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay shut up it was awkward and quiet and I don’t know how to talk to people,” He defended.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s a lion,” Alex told them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette scrunched up his nose and gave Alex a look most people give babies. “Awh! A lion! Just like you! You seem so sweet and innocent but you give off a vibe that you could kill me in twenty-six different ways.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex didn’t deny it, instead making dead eye contact with Laf and just staring, trying to reach the taller man’s soul through his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please don’t kill me,” Laf whispered, which made everyone laugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you guys almost done with your food?” Martha asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We literally just started eating,” John said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then shut up and start eating we still have like five more stores to go to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fear of Martha’s wrath made them shut up and focus on inhaling their food. They all finished way faster than should be humanly possible. George laughed at them while Martha looked both amused and slightly disappointed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Martha paid their bill and lead them all to some random department store that was way bigger than it probably needed to be. There they got to pick out decorations for Alex’s room and a new comforter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Since we’re here I want to look at blenders,” Martha said, informing the group of her plan even though they were all just following her blindly anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do you want to look at blenders?” Lafayette asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George dropped it and the glass part broke.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You- You murdered Blendy?” Lafayette asked, looking betrayed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You named our blender Blendy?” George asked instead of admitting his guilt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, and she was my best friend!” Lafayette exclaimed, getting a “rude” from both John and Hercules.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George and Martha just laughed at them and led them to the blenders, where they ended up finding one that they wanted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything was going great, they got food, Alex got his own laptop which he knew already that he would definitely be abusing the access to google docs, he got new clothes and even the chance to customize his bedroom. The day was shaping out to be pretty good, minus the incident during lunch. That was until they walked into an “Omega Specialty” store. At the front, there were normal things, like scent bracelets and blankets that were apparently meant to be for nests, but in the back, there were things Alex never wanted to think of. He could have lived his entire life without seeing penis-shaped flower pots.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His embarrassment didn’t seem to end when Martha asked one of the employees if she could help them find what they needed, which apparently was one of everything. The group of Alphas, minus John, had to watch him pick out the type of scent blocking pads he wanted for his door and so much more. It was absolutely mortifying. No one was making eye contact, not even George and Martha. The only good thing that came out of the trip was that Alex now had amassed a small collection of scent blocking bracelets to at least mute his scent enough that every Alpha in the general vicinity didn’t know when he was feeling slightly anxious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were able to leave that store as quickly as they came, and they didn’t have to once go to the back. Alexander had quickly shut down the idea when the employee suggested something from that section, everyone in the group looked relieved.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To make up for the painfully awkward experience Martha decided they could take a break from their regular shopping and go to the Build-A-Bear that they would have normally walked by without a second glance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette looked like a kid in a candy store and he looked through the line of bears. He had to have spent at least ten minutes trying to decide what one he wanted, and he ended up settling on a brown dog.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John wasn’t quite as excited as Lafayette, but he was excited nonetheless. His first instinct was to go with the green turtle. When Hercules had seen what he picked out he whispered a small “Turtle boy” in his ear, a nickname that had haunted him since middle school.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hercules chose the exact opposite from the nice calm, obvious teenage boy stuffed animals the others had chosen and picked out a light pink bear, who he hugged the saggy, unstuffed body like it was the only thing grounding him to the Earth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex was the last one to pick, mainly because he originally picked out the cheapest one but Martha slyly told him that he could get whatever he wanted without anyone noticing her having to reassure him. After a lot of internal debate, he ended up with the same bear as Hercules just in light blue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They all had to go through the entire heart ceremony because Martha and George told them they wouldn’t get the bear if they didn’t show it proper love. Hercules was more than okay with having to do the silly motions that were made for little kid. Alex was the only one who was able to even get close to his enthusiasm level, who hadn’t been able to experience something like during his childhood. Both Lafayette and John did it reluctantly, looking this the stereotypical teenager who wanted to be anywhere else.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John and Lafayette both skipped the “bath” process, pretending that they were too manly and cool to do it, even though you could see the want in their eyes when Hercules and Alexander did it. The clothing was a whole different story. All four of them spent at least ten minutes just looking at all the clothes and even longer picking out an outfit. In the end, Lafayette settled for a red dress with sequins on the top, Johns turtle was dressed up as a doctor, Hercules’ had on a white tutu and a white sweater like top, and Alex’s was wearing a purple and blue fairy costume, complete with wings and a wand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had spent a full hour there but by the end, they had welcomed Delphine, Sheldrick, Beatrice, and Linnie to the family, and Martha and George had spent way too much money on stuffed animals. The teens were happy though and they were pretty rich so it was worth it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They popped into a few more stores, getting random things here and there, and were on their way out when they passed Barnes and Noble. Alex gave it one longing look but was willing to walk past due to the entire library he had hopefully available at the Washingtons. John must have noticed him though because he asked Martha and George if they could look and sent Alexander a wink when the couple agreed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment they were in Alex let himself go wild. They gave each of the kids a five-book limit because that was more than reasonable seeing as they had spent hundreds of dollars that day. Within minutes Alex had his five, and eventually, Hercules ended up with two, John had three and Lafayette had just found one because he wanted a French book but they didn’t have a wide selection. They all let Alex pick out six more books to complete their collective twenty book limit because he was looking sadly at an entire section he didn’t even get to look in. Martha and George spent the entire time greatly amused and pretending that they definitely didn’t know what happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was the last store, and by the time they got to the car, everyone was either whining that their feet hurt or holding in their whines and suffering silently. The ride was mostly silent due to the total exhaustion on all parts. The only time the silence was broken was when George ordered pizza and asked if Hercules and John wanted to stay the night. They both just let out awkward groans, obviously tired, and texted their parents that they were staying the night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they got back to the Washingtons they all carried armfuls of bags inside, leaving them in the entrance until they were willing to put in the effort to sort everything. As a group, they ended up in the living room. Martha and George were sharing the sofa, Alex sat in a chair by himself and the three others were laying on top of each other on the couch. Martha turned on the TV and they all vaguely paid attention to what came on until the pizza came when everyone’s collective energy increased tremendously while they all ate as much pizza as they could without getting sick.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god!” Lafayette yelled, sitting straight up and looking at the other three teens. “We should have a movie night!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John just groaned in response. “That would take, getting up and putting effort into living though,” He mumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette ignored him though and instead pulled both him and Hercules off the couch. “Alexander, do you wanna join us?” He asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess?” Alex said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay come on we’ll watch them in the theater,” Laf said, dragging the other two with him. Alex just awkwardly followed them, not quite knowing where the theater was. Turns out it was in the basement that Alex had totally forgotten Lafayette told him about. It wasn’t just a room with a TV and ac couple chairs or a couch, it was a TV bigger then anyone would ever need in their lives and actual movie theaters seats. They were arranged in three rows of six seats that all had armrests in between and were way more extra then they needed to be. Like who actually needs a home theater just use your living room like normal people.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex didn’t vocalize his thoughts though, not wanting to risk angering the rich kids in the room, especially the Alphas. He hated how comfortable he was starting to feel around them. It wasn’t normal he wasn’t supposed to be this comfortable. Alphas were threats, not friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Martha and George are brining blankets and stuff,” Lafayette said, flopping down on one of the chairs and checking his phone. John sat next to him and draped himself over the armrest and Lafayette's lap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hercules!" John called, staging out the last vowel until Hercules paid attention to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What do you want?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Will you go get Sheldrick?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I hate you," Hercules told him but started to walk back out. Before he got to the door though he turned back to Alex, “Hey do you want to come with me? You don’t have to.” He said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go,” Alex told him, following him out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two walked out to the theater and to the entrance in silence, neither knowing what to talk about. They collected the stuffed animals and before they could go back Alexander asked if he could grab something from his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hercules said yes and followed him up, but didn’t go all the way into his room. Maybe it was the scared look Alex gave him or just common courtesy, but he didn’t cross the threshold. Whatever the reason, it made Alex feel a lot safer. He grabbed the blanket Lafayette had given him the day before. He wouldn’t normally be comfortable enough to bring a blanket around, but he wanted to push the boundaries of this house. The only thing worse then an abusive placement is when they pretended to care about him just for it to turn sour. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hercules at least didn’t seem to care when he wrapped the blanket around himself like a cape and they walked back to the theater.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t Laf have one like that?” He asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I think he said that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He might want it, give me a second to grab it,” Hercules said and wandered into Lafayettes room, quickly spotting the blanket on the bed, grabbed it, and mimicked Alex in wearing it like a cape.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This blanket is literally so soft I’m stealing it Laf can suck it I want it,” Hercules told him as they walked down the stairs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex let out a small chuckle but gave the Alpha side-eye. This was one of the weirdest placements he had ever been in and this was just adding to the fact. Most Alphas would absolutely hate using a blanket another Alpha had used, especially one that had been in Lafayettes room so long that you could smell Lafayette’s scent off it without trying, but Hercules seemed totally fine. Even though it seemed so small, it made Alex trust him a little more. He didn’t seem aggressive in the slightest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They got back to the theater to find the biggest fort Alexander had ever seen. Two rows of seats had been pushed to the sides with the third pushed up against them. Sheets were going from the backs of the seats to the top of the TV, fully enclosing the fort. Martha and George were adding finishing touches to the fort while Lafayette and John were nowhere to be seen, presumable already inside the fort.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did they make that so fast?” Alex asked Hercules.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have movie nights a lot so it’s easy at this point,” Hercules told him and showed him a small entrance ha hadn’t noticed before in between one of the couches and the wall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once inside he noticed that mattresses were in the middle, along with tons of pillows and blankets scattered across them. Lafayette and John were sitting against the back seat row arguing over what movie to watch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just saying that Mean Girls is a classic and obviously the best option!” Lafayette said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But we haven’t watched Camp Rock in like, months!” John defended.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We should watch High School Musical,” Hercules interjected, throwing Sheldrick at John.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Boo you whore,” Lafayette said, throwing a pillow at him. “We literally watched Hig School Musical last week.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We all know the reason you want to watch it is that you have a crush on Chad,” John added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hercules let out a very manly squawk. “You bitch! You literally only want to watch Camp Rock because you think Joe Jonas is cute!” He said, exposing John.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is why we should watch Mean Girls!” Lafayette said, pulling it up on the TV.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not innocent in this either,” John said, snatching the remote. “You want to watch mean girls because you want to become Regina George.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rude!” Lafayette said, trying and failing to grab the remote back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alexander should have a say in this! Alex, what do you want to watch?” Hercules said, looking at Alex who froze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a minute of thinking, he got an evil smile on his face. “We should watch The Bee Movie,” He told them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay Alex doesn’t get a say in it anymore,” Hercules said, taking the remote for himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right then was when Martha peaker her head into the fort. “George is making y’all some popcorn from the sound of it he’s making like four bags so be prepared for that. Once he’s done with that though we’re gonna go get in bed. Come get us if you need anything though,” She told them, making eye contact with Alex during the last sentence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gave her a small nod and everyone said their goodnights as she popped her head back out. Immediately the arguing started back up again. New movies were suggested and shot down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They settled on Cheetah Grils by the time George popped his head in with four huge bowls of popcorn. George told them goodnight and left almost as quickly as he came.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The popcorn was completely gone by the time they finished all three Cheetah Girls movies, which Alex surprisingly really liked. The others all wanted to watch Princess Protection Program, which Alex agreed to because he hadn’t seen it before. It wasn’t anything close to what he was expecting. The entire time he expected them to turn on the stereotypical “masculine Alpha male” movies but they didn’t. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The marathon kept going like that way too late into the night. John, Hercules, and Lafayette were laying on each other and cuddling the entire time, while Alex was curled up in a corner. During one of the movies John had invited him to cuddle but he declined, still wary of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the end of their sixth movies, Alex started to doze off. After a few minutes though he jerk back awake. By then Lafayette and Hercules had both fallen asleep, leaving just John to notice his momentary panic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” John asked, vaguely paying attention to the movie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing,” Alex lied. He knew it was his body’s natural reaction to the dominating Alpha scent that was so close to him while he slept, screaming “danger” at him over and over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it their scent?” John asked, obviously knowing that he lied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Alex tried lying again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John could obviously tell it was fake and stopped spooning Lafayette and rolled over to fully face him. “Would it help if I got closer so you could smell me?” He asked, still not getting close though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Alex mumbled, finally giving up on his lying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, how close can I get?” He asked, being as cautious as he could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No touching please,” Alex mumbled, staring down at Linnie, obviously embarrassed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re fine,” John mumbled, getting as close as he could to Alexander without actually touching him. “Don’t worry, you’re okay. Just go back to sleep, I got you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took Alex a few more minutes to finally feel semi-safe enough to fall back asleep. Even though he was scared, he couldn’t postpone the inevitable, but at least for right now, nothing had happened. It seemed safe.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, I have two options for y'all. Either I can keep posting longer chapters like this, either full days or big events, but I won't be able to post weekly, it'll more likely be a chapter or two a month, mainly due to school. OR, I could post a chapter every other week, but they would be a l o t shorter. Tell me what you would prefer in the comments please, I'll probably go with the majority unless there ends up being an actual conflict with my schedule.</p><p>Thank you so much for the comments and kudos! They made my day! I try to reply to all the comments I get, but if it takes me a bit to reply don't take it personally or something, I more then likely just got busy.</p><p>Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!!</p><p>- Becca from Beyond the Grave<br/>Love y'all!<br/>&lt;333</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Great Scrabble Game</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, so sorry that it's been so long. I promise this story hasn't been forgotten and won't be forgotten, I've just been really really stressed with school and stuff recently, and writing this part got pushed back.</p><p>Also, my goal for this chapter was only like 2500/3000ish words but then I got really into the scrabble game and it went on a lot longer than I meant.</p><p>I'm going to do my best to update as often as I can, and I want to apologize now if the next chapter takes a while</p><p>Please read the endnote, its really important.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Everything in the blanket fort was completely peaceful. Quiet snores and mumbles softly filtered out the door, assuring the adults that everything had gone okay. The blankets were all dropping from the sides being bumped in the night, but none of the four sleeping figures noticed, too wrapped up in their own sleep and the arms of another. Everything was safe and warm for the kids inside, no one had anything to fear, they were safe together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>`It was the smallest member who disturbed the peace. As his dreams started to drift away from peaceful, the others started to notice. A small whimper is what finally jostled two of them fully out of their slumber, but neither knew what to do. An even softer “detener” finally woke the last one, leaving the three to stare at each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is he okay?” John asked in a hushed tone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His question was answered when Alex let out a soft, “Detener, S'il vous plaît.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not all of that was french,” Lafayette said, keeping to the theme of quiet voice and making eye contact with Hercules.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t look at me!” He whisper shouted. “I literally only know English.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think the first word was stop,” John told them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"The last part was please," Lafayette said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John stared at them for a minute, face scrunching up a little bit "Why the fuck does french have so many words?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Shut up it's better than Spanish," Lafayette whispered yelled, sticking out his tongue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, it's not!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Guys," Hercules said, trying to get their attention back to the sleeping Alex, who was slowly devolving into a series of mixed language mumbles that he couldn't understand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That was not French or Spanish," John told him after another mumbled combined with a whimper. The boy who had stayed completely still the entire night was now starting to wiggle a little and this breathing was slowly getting more erratic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How many languages does he know?" Lafayette asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the same time as Lafayette, Hercules asked "Should we wake him up?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe?” John said, staring helplessly at the wiggling figure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Worth a shot?” Lafayette said, reaching out to try and shake him awake, but getting his hand snatched by John.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t touch him,” John whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why not?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you smell and last night he got like overwhelmed or something because you guys were so close or something I don’t know but it might scare him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just-no one touch him,” John said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re literally shit at explaining things,” Hercules told him, but still scootched to the other side of the fort where Lafayette had already crawled to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shut up,” John said, smacking the part of his knee he could reach. “I don’t want to touch him what if I scare him?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do we just have to wait it out?” Hercules asked, looking concerned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think so,” Lafayette told him, not looking too happy about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three all gave each other a look and tried to fall back asleep, hoping it would end soon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Alex finally woke up both Hercules and John had fallen back asleep, neither used to being up at five in the morning. Lafayette hadn’t been able to fall back asleep though and was scrolling through his phone, watching over his friends like he often did when he got anxious. Logically he knew that they weren’t going to leave or get hurt, but his brain was telling him totally different things.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexander woke up with a small jump, pressing his body back against one of the long couches, putting as much space between him and everyone else in the fort as possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alexander, calm down,” Lafayette whispered to him. “What's wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothings wrong,” Alex told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes Lafayette, I’m fine,” He lied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette sighed and stare at him for a minute, not knowing how to go about the situation. Eventually, he said, “I’m not going to pressure you into talking because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but if you ever need someone to talk to I’m here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks?” Alex said, not quite sure how to respond.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Awkwardness aside, do you want to watch a movie?” Laf asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to wake them up,” Alex said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Non, don’t worry. They both sleep like logs ninety percent of the time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that confirmation, the two decided on a movie to watch because according to Lafayette not having ever watched Lemonade Mouth was a crime. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John and Hercules woke up in time to sleepily sing More than a Band and then both fell back asleep while Lafayette cried the entire song, leaving Alex more confused than he had ever been in his entire life. The only explanation he got from Lafayette was that this movie hit </span>
  <span>different.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The movie concluded with some teary eyes from Lafayette and total confusion from Alex. Before either of them could think of anything different to watch John woke up, and gave a small sniff in the air. “I smell food,” He said, perking straight up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your a fucking hound dog,” Lafayette said, throwing a pillow at him and also hitting Hercules, startling him awake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you want,” He whined.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s food get up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah what John said.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine. Are you coming Alex?” Hercules asked, crawling out of the fort behind the other two.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Alex said, even though it was more of a question than an answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time the group made it to the kitchen the smell had intensified, proving wrong any doubt that John had actually smelt food.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good mornin’ boys,” George said from his place at the stove. “The bacon’s in the oven and the toast is going in in a minute. Alexander, how do you like your eggs?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whatever is fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay I’m making like ten scrambled and the other two are going to be over easy because that’s how Martha likes ‘em. You can just pick what you want from there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘Course.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How long until the foods done?” Lafayette asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s done when it’s done,” George said. “If you want it done faster go set the table.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lafayette let out a dramatic sigh and walked into the dining room while George mumbled something along the lines of “Little Miss. Drama Queen.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hercules and John ended up following Lafayette, so Alexander copied, still not too keen to be alone with George. He ended up sitting at the table again while the others set the table. He had offered to help but was told by John to “sit your little ass down. We got it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Alex, tell us about yourself,” John said, getting out placemats.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow that was direct,” Hercules snorted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignoring him, John asked, “Do you have any hobbies or anything? Sorry, I don’t really know what to talk about because it’s awkward and quiet, and yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re fine there just isn’t much to tell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure there’s something. What do you do for fun?” Lafayette asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been a while since he had actually been able to have fun without something terrible looming over his head. After a while of silence, he had finally decided on something he likes, writing. “Writing, I guess,” He told them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that’s cool!” John said. “What do you like to write?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was a question he couldn’t come up with an answer to but was saved by Hercules. “Quit it with the third degree, we’re befriending him, not interrogating him. What if we played a card game or something? Not twenty fucking questions.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So once the table was set Lafayette pulled three decks of cards out of a drawer and they started playing an intense game of modified go fish. Martha found them halfway through the game, walking into the kitchen ready for the day, and staring at her phone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Kitty just texted me and asked if they could come over for dinner. John and Phillip Jr. are apparently going to their cousins for a sleepover so it would just be us, Kitty, Phillip, and the girls. Alex, Gil, you in?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m always down for the Schuyler sisters, they're great,” Laf said at the same time as John’s “What about us?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“John it’s your grandma’s bingo night so you have to go babysit and Hercules your dad has that business meeting tonight,” Martha told them then turned to Alex. “It’s the two girls you met yesterday, Peggy and Eliza plus their older sister Angelica. Is that fine? I can always say no or try and reschedule.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s fine,” Alex told her. In all reality, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to see them again after they witnessed him having a mini panic attack. It could have been worse though, so at least he was lucky in that sense.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How do you just know our lives like that?” Hercules asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re all dumb,” She said as she went into the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>John let out a small “rude” before they continued their game.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The game ended with Lafayette being declared the winner and after they had finally separated the decks the food was finally done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the day seemed to pass in seconds, with the only productive things happening were the bags being brought from the entry to Alex’s bedroom and John and Hercules being dropped off. Before he knew it, the doorbell was aggressively ringing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alexander followed Lafayette out of the living room, where they had been playing a different card game out of pure boredom into the entrance. George opened the door and revealed Peggy still ringing the doorbell over and over again while Eliza tried to hide her laughter and three strangers looked completely done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Peggy I swear,” said a pregnant woman, snatching Peggy’s hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kitty! How are you?” George asked, hugging her because she was closest to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Would be better if this freaking baby wasn’t doing an Irish jig on my bladder.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George laughed and moved to give the older man a hug. They didn’t even give the manly bro hug, it was a full hug with squeezing which was kind of weird for Alex to experience for the first time. Most guys hugged and aggressively hit the other for some weird show of manliness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you, Phillip?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would be great if it wasn’t for that one loving to try my patients,” The man said, giving Peggy a little glare.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I leave the house like twice a week, leave me alone,” Peggy said, strolling into the house as if she owned it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex!” She gave him a dramatic wave when she noticed him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After her Eliza and a girl he didn’t know came in, both giving George hugs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you, girls?” He asked, smiling at them like they were his own kids.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m good. Schools a bitch though,” Said the girl with curly hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George laughed then noticed Alex standing awkwardly away from everyone. “Oh, guys this is Alexander. Alex, this is Kitty, Phillip, Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy, who apparently you’ve already met.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex let out a nervous, “Nice to meet you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the same time, Peggy said, “He met Eliza too. We became bathroom buddies at Olive Garden yesterday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Never say bathroom buddies again,” Eliza said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that why you took so long?” Angelica asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's nice to meet you, Alexander,” Kitty said, going in for a hug, but stopping when she saw Alex retract back into himself. “I didn’t mean to scare you, love,” She said quietly, taking a couple of steps back. What was up with these people and hugs?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George gave a sad smile but quickly changed the subject. “I left Martha in the kitchen alone, so I better go help before I’m on the couch.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phillip offered to help while Kitty excused herself to the bathroom, cursing out the baby. The four other teenagers made their way to the living room, and Alex followed awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So Alex, how do you like it at the Washingtons?” Angelica asked. She went to sit down on the couch next to Peggy, but Lafayette asked her to sit with him and Eliza took her spot. When he sat down on the other side of Peggy was when he noticed that she was an Alpha, and gave Lafayette a thankful look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s nice,” He told her. “They’re all really nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good. So, where are you from?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I came here from New York,” He said, casually leaving out the Caribean. Lafayette and his friends already knew, but New York required less explanation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh cool, where in New York?” Angelica asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Angie stop interrogating him,” Eliza told her sister.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eliza, did you do the notes for Mr. King’s class?” Lafayette asked, swiftly changing the subject.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I brought them too. If you go grab your notebook you can copy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sweet thanks I forgot about them,” Lafayette said, getting up and walking to the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Angie why don’t you go with him,” Peggy said, getting confused looks from both the Alphas.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure he can walk up to his room by himself. He’s a big boy last I heard.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Angelica, go,” Eliza said in a warning tone, which made them both walk away confused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they were out of earshot both the girls turned towards Alex. “How are you doing?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean seriously. You can tell me the truth. Has anything happened? I don’t care if they’re friends I will fucking kill them if they hurt you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I just overreacted. I’m sorry that you had to deal with that,” Alex trained his eyes to the ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, hey, hey,” Peggy said, lifting his chin a little so he was looking at her. “Traumas trauma. You didn’t overreact, you reacted that way because you were scared, which is perfectly okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you have a phone?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They got me one yesterday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay cool here,” Eliza said, pulling a paper out of her bag. After further inspection, he realized that it was both of their phone numbers. “Call or text us whenever you need.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Peggy said, carefully looping her arm around his shoulders. “So where are you going to school?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, Kings I think.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait what,” Peggy said, looking a little shook. “Kings?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what Ms. Washington said.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I thought- You know what, be right back,” Peggy got up and speed walked to the door. “Mom!” She yelled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We should probably follow her,” Eliza said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They ended up in the kitchen where the four adults were laughing and cooking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” Mr. Schuyler asked from where he was chopping vegetables.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex’s going to Kings,” She told him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex was starting to get nervous. The Washingtons seemed accepting, supportive even, but who knew how the Schuylers thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He is?” Ms. Schuyler asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah we figured it would be easier since Gilbert was already going,” Martha told her</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to go to Kings,” Peggy said impatiently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought you wanted to be homeschooled?” Phillip asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because I thought that I was going to have to go to public school!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do you hate public school so much?” Martha asked. “I heard it’s nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peggy rolled her eyes at them and mumbled, “Yeah for people like you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s that supposed to mean?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not safe,” Alex whispered under his breath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not the safest place,” Kitty told her husband. She seemed to be the only person who heard Alex, everyone else’s attention being too focused on the upset Peggy. </span>
  <span>They held eye contact for a second while the three other adults looked confused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Mr. Schuyler asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not explaining this to you right now,” Kitty said and turned to her daughter. “Do you want to go to Kings, Peg?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I really do. I hate homeschool. I want friends that aren’t my siblings and their friends.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is she actually allowed to be enrolled?” Kitty asked, looking at her to check. Martha just nodded, so she turned back to her daughter. “Let’s get you enrolled then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peggy lit up like a Christmas tree. “Thank you so much! My favorite parents. Love you bye.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She left the room, half skipping half just bouncing out of the room. Phillip calmly informed them that dinner would be done soon before Eliza and Alex left the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peggy was dancing around the living room when they got there while Angelica looked confused out of her mind. Lafayette was sitting on the ground, copying Eliza's work and completely ignoring Peggy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you like this?” Angelica asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Peggy flipped her off and kept dancing, which prompted Angelica to turn to them with a questioning look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s going to Kings and she’s very excited,” Eliza told her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She is?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what mom just said.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cool.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex! If we start on the same day we have to walk in looking fabulous. Start the rest of the year off right.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re going to Kings?” Angelica asked, not seeming confused, just curious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nodded, analyzing the tone in her words. She seemed okay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cool.” She looked like she had more questions but didn’t want to ask them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next ten minutes were filled with aimless chatter before George came in and told them dinner was done. They all made their way to the formal dining room because their regular table was too small for the nine of them. Sadly that meant once everyone had sat or was sitting there were only a few places to sit that wasn’t awkwardly away from people. Because of that, Alex ended up sitting at the end, next to Ms. Schuyler, and across from Angelica, not exactly two people he was super comfortable with. Out of luck though, he was able to steer clear of most of the conversations, except for the stereotypical “Are you excited for school?” and the question he’s gotten way too much recently “do you like it here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Instead of leaving like Alexander thought they would after dinner, Eliza ran upstairs with Lafayette while Phillip and George cleaned the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A couple of minutes Eliza and Lafayette came barreling back into the room carrying a couple of boxes. “Can we play Scrabble?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hell yes,” Martha told her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Girls against boys?” Ms. Washinton asked, doing the mental math on how to make the teams work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooh, Martha can I be your partner?” Peggy asked, having no qualms about being that close with an Alpha.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I claim George,” Lafayette said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Alexander?” Kitty asked over people yelling as they chose partners.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to be partners?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure, that’d be nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay cool, we’ll kick their asses, promise.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After ten minutes of debating and set up, four boards had been pushed together, and everyone had teamed up. Phillip had opted out to keep the teams equal, and so that he could make cookies for everyone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eliza and Angelica started out the game with the word “hawk” and it went from there, everyone determined to win.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Within twenty short minutes, there had already been four fights, one of which ended in the ban of any language other than English, which pissed Lafayette off immensely. He had claimed that it was setting him and George up to fail because English wasn’t his first language and how it was unfair. The ban stayed in place, but Phillip had to join them to make Lafayette less upset.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>About an hour in and a board already full is when everything went to shit, and family turned against each other. All because of Alex and Kitty’s use of the word “subjectivizing”, gaining themselves a hundred and fourteen points because one of the letters landed on a triple word score tile. Peggy, Martha, and Lafayette swore that it wasn’t a real word while Angelica used the only allowed phone in the room to make sure it was actually a real word. When it was found out that yes, it was a word and they earned all of those points, is when the rivalries started.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At first, it was just a little more determination from everyone else, but after the use of the words “oxyphenbutazone” and “sulfinpyrazone,” people started blatantly cheating. Instead of saying in their normal teams, it because everyone against Alex and Kitty. It was a war.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even with the cheating, Alex and Kitty were still pulling out 30 point words while everyone else was using words like “dog” and “bike” in retaliation. The best one was when Phillip made the word “sad” off of “lymphadenopathy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even though Alex’s confidence had been growing with each word, he was still just helping Kitty piece them together on their notepad while she actually placed them on the board. Showing off in front of that many Alphas made him nervous because even though everything seemed fine now, it could all change behind closed doors. Or in open doors. It’s not like anyone would stop it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The game ended with everyone placing their final word. Martha and Peggy had “quake.” Eliza and Angelica used “hippo.” George, Phillip, and Lafayette added an s to the word “cat,” and Alex and Catherine ended up with “gyrofrequencies.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m leaving America. Goodbye,” Lafayette said when he saw that they already had close to a thousand points before they were close to done. He got up and walked away from his team, who were still in the five hundred’s and getting close to the last of their points.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The closest anyone had gotten to beating them was Angelica and Eliza, who were a little under four hundred points away from them. As per the rules, losers had to sort the pieces and put everything away while the winners were allowed to start eating cookies in the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they were both done with their first cookie, Kitty interrupted the peace. "Alex dear, can you help me sit up on the counter?" He agreed and after a minute of struggling, the pregnant woman was finally able to sit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thank you, I’ve got weak ankles. Each pregnancy I've told them they need to invest in chairs for their kitchen and every time they forget.” Alex smiled and handed her another cookie. “Are you okay? You look like you’re in pain.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine.” He hopped onto the counter with her and his cookie suddenly became extremely interesting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m a mother, I know when you're lying tell me what's wrong please?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex subconsciously adjusted his shirt, which Catherine noticed immediately. "What happened to your stomach?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nothing," he lied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alexander, please. If you tell me I can help you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's nothing I promise, I'm just clumsy. How many kids do you have?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Five that are breathing. Also don’t think I’m just not going to notice you change the subject.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry for the ones who aren’t breathing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve made my peace with it,” She told him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before either of them could continue either conversation they were interrupted by the door slamming open. “Everything is clean and I want a cookie,” Angelica said, strutting into the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was followed by Peggy, Eliza, and Lafayette, who all started devouring cookies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Within a matter of moments, the three other adults were also in the huge kitchen, eating their fair share of cookies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you even do that?” Eliza asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do what?” Catherine asked innocently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where did you even learn those words?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Books,” Alex answered simply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Same.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the frick kind of books do you even read?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Growing up my parents were really strict and had a ton of standards for me so I would sneak out and go to the library. I’m pretty sure I read almost all of the books there,” Kitty said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nodded along, his story similar to hers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jesus Christ.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Lafayette asked, “Do you want to stay the night? We left the fort up from last night so we could have a movie night.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds fun,” Eliza said, turning to face her parents.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s a school night,” Phillip said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But they all go to the same school and I can do my work on literally any computer,” Peggy said. “Please?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If it's okay with Martha and George I'm fine with it,” Catherine said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know how much we love having a full house,” George said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Heck yes!” Lafayette said shoved another cookie in his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Actually do you two want to stay the night too? We still have to get Alex registered you could come with us tomorrow,” Martha said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The answer fell to deaf ears though, as the teenagers ran to the movie room. Lafayette and Eliza carried a tray full of cookies each while Peggy and Angelica ran ahead and Alex trailed awkwardly behind. Everyone’s excitement resulted in Angelica tripping and everything to go down in a huge crash, including the cookies.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you couldn't tell, I wanted Catherine Schuyler to be an actual person. She's literally forgotten about in literally every fanfiction I've ever read and she deserved better.</p><p>Also this is important I know its long but pls read. TW//abuse (not graphic)<br/>Also, in almost every fostercare au I've read Alexander has been like, so abused that he's just casually ignoring broken ribs and stuff and that's literally not how it works. Also, they ignore almost every other character's possible trauma. I'm trying to make this at least semi-realistic (as realistic as I can get for an omegaverse story lmao) so everyone has problems, Alex isn't so physically harmed that he has actively broken bones that he's not telling anyone about. Yes, he's more than likely had physical trauma, I tried to hint at pain, which in my brain would just be bruising, not a whole ass broken rib he's somehow walking around normally with.<br/>I'm trying to treat them like normally teenagers, or at least what I know about teenagers, and that is that even if its small, trauma, mental health problems, and family problems, past or present, can affect your life. I do want to address everyone's problems, even if it's not huge because that's how life works.</p><p>ANWAYS thank you for coming to my ted talk. Tell me if you want me to skip to tomorrow or if you want a probably smaller part about the sleepover in the comments please.</p><p>Also, I'm a whore for comments and kudos so pls do that.</p><p>Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!!<br/>-Becca</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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